CSIRO plans anti-bully unit after probe

Government science agency the CSIRO is setting up an internal bully-busting unit amid the fallout from the accusations of toxic workplaces that have dogged the organisation for several years.

The leader of an investigation into the claims says while many improvements have been made at the CSIRO there is concern more than half of the staff who responded to a recent survey said they would still be afraid to speak out about workplace bullying.

After the second phase of an investigation into the CSIRO's workplaces in Australia, only two managers are being recommended for code-of-conduct investigations, after 110 complaints of bad behaviour were probed.

The organisation's staff association has accepted the findings of the report and says the CSIRO is ready to learn its lessons.

However, some former CSIRO scientists have dismissed the investigation.

The report by former Commonwealth ombudsman Dennis Pearce says the issue of bullying at the CSIRO, which reached fever pitch in late 2012 and early 2013, has been substantially addressed by management action in the past year.